Saturday, September 29, 2007

Hey all, Jack here with IMPORTANT news! As you can see I have some adspace up with Project Wonderful, so that's new. Bid! I'll eventually have some more up around the site, but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.

What I AM here to talk about is: stickers. Yep, stickers. A new promotional tool I have for the site. Different designs, same site. What about em, you ask? I want to start a new gimmic--ahem, I mean a new addition to the site I'm going to call "Stickin' it to the man!" What it will be is basically you email me and give me your address(yknow, street address, city, state, zip. I won't stalk you, I promise!)and I send you some free stickers to stick up around town. But here's where the fun part comes in. Take a picture of yourself with the sticker in some wacky or crazy place, email me the picture with a brief description of when and where it was taken with the sticker, and I'll put it on the site! You get almost-famous, and I get a little help at the same time. Sound fun? I think so! Please, no pictures of you with the sticker over your privates or something. Unless you're a hot chick. Anyway, uncaringmachine@aol.com. Cmon, get some free stickers and join the chimp army!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

This is my first adults only comic review, so I'm a bit excited. Wait. Not "excited" excited. Excited about doing a review of a comic geared specifically towards adults. Nevermind. Okay, Toy Division, by Mimo, is a series of sexually and violence charged one-off strips with morally challenged characters named things like Snowball, Pepsi Von Hellswine, and Bunty. There is a reason it's adults only people. Updates come..well, like Mimo says, are erratic.

The art struck me as a mix of Chibi-porn and World War 2 propaganda posters on Ecstasy. That is to say, I enjoyed it very much. I'm not sure about the sexed up drawings of the characters though. I found seeing a Chibi-like Snowball wearing a dildo a tad disconcerting. After a while though I got used to the butt shots and sexual violence on display. On the color side of things, I liked the subtlety of it all. It was gentle on the eyes and, dare I say, pretty. Mimo has an eye for design and half of these strips would look great on a tshirt. I'm surprised she doesn't have a store up with tshirts, stickers, etc. I bet they would sell like fur covered handcuffs at the Playboy store. Another thing I enjoyed was the mini flash games, a pleasant little diversion before going on to the next comic. Not much wrong here except that a lot of the "comics" were just one panel with a character posing and nothing else. More comic please!

With a good portion of the comics up being one panel poster-like shots, the writing seems to be on the backburner quite a bit of the time. I don't feel like I really got to know the characters much past the fact that they all seem to have gay tendencies and like sex and violence. A LOT. I understand that it's geared completely toward adults, but not all adults are evil. I would like to see a little compassion, or at least more characterization that doesn't rely on sexual urges or inflicting pain. At times it almost reads like a crazy nazi soap opera, but with less story. Maybe a storyline or two to explain why these characters act the way they do? The cast page does help, but it's not finished yet and still won't continue their development. On the plus side it does have a demented charm and is pretty funny when it needs to be. I have no idea how Mimo came up with the idea for this comic. Maybe an "about the author" page? That would be interesting to read...

Toy Division is an original themed comic with a perverted charm that would be even better with a few short storylines to fill in the characterization gaps and backstories of Pepsi, Snowball, and the like. Wonderful frame-worthy art and devilish writing made the experience a good one for me, but with too many one-panel comics I got a bit tired by the end. I do recommend you try it out though. You may find yourself EXPLODING with joy that you found it, or ERECTING the idea that it's not your cup of vodka. Eh, sexual inuendo. I tried.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Eve Z., the creator of Synthetic Life, graces us with another of her creations, Ted Pax. This is the story of Ted, your not so average blue-haired high school kid. The story so far is that Ted isn't treated fairly by anyone, even his own family. After seeing a contest to win a free home, he vows to enter and win said home, getting away from his miserable life forever. If you had a dad who would yell at your just because you interrupted his banana eating, wouldn't you do the same? The webcomic hijinks come at you every Thursday.

With Synthetic Life, Eve had an anime style that was very prevalent, but with Pax, it's been toned down to much greater effect. I completely prefer the art here. Very detailed, expressive, and enjoyable. It is mostly a black and white comic, but a few are in color, which made a big difference. I think it would look much better if all of them were in color, but keeping a schedule can sometimes be tough in the webcomics world. Anyway, good stuff!

Now, to the writing. As with her other comic creation, something is lost in the translation. With English not being her first language, Eve seems to have a bit of difficulty getting across what she wants to say. You can understand what's going on, but it's just quite worded properly, making for not-intended humor. Example: Ted's mom is cooking soup, forgets about it for a minute while she yells at her son, he reminds her of it, and when she sees it yells "AHHH! My soup is compromised!!!" I laughed at it, but I doubt for the right reason. It reads like a subtitled Godzilla movie or something. And I don't know why, but EVERYONE in the comic seems really really mean for no reason, with the exception of his sister. I wouldn't wanna live in that world. I think maybe an editor or just having a friend to help clean up the dialogue would help the comic make more sense and be much more enjoyable. Storyline-wise, there is no real direction to the story other than Ted getting beat up by bullies and trying to get the girls, but I suppose it doesn't NEED some life altering storyline or adventure because it is a teen humor comic.

The art is great in this comic, I just wish the writing was at the same level. I felt a little bad for enjoying it not for what it was meant to be, but for chuckling at the odd wording and strange personalities in Ted Pax. Eve gets points just for trying, in my opinion, something that a lot of people can't even do. But check it out and decide for yourself if it's worth the trip to Bizarro world.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Just wanted to officially welcome everyone to the new Webcomic Asylum, formerly Jacks Reviews! Please excuse the crappy temporary logo. It's just up until the contest is over and the winner is chosen. I love the new name, even though I've had a complaint or two, but not everyone will always like what you do. The new name is synonymous with the new direction the site has been going in lately, not JUST reviews but news, contests, polls, interviews, etc. Jacks Reviews just didn't do it justice in my opinion. Having Asylum in the title added a little craziness that I thought was needed. And if anyone worries that people won't know what they are getting without "review" in the title, don't worry, the banners I'm going to be making for the site will say "reviews, news, contests, and more!" in them. So, welcome, take off your shoes, pants, grab a cold glass of buttermilk out of the fridge, and enjoy! Oh, and be sure and bookmark the new address!

Boy, it seems like everytime you come to the site I'm asking for yet another favor from you guys doesn't it? Well, never fear, because this will benefit you, me, and anyone who reads it! Now, to the pitch.

We're looking for people who love to write. And since most of you who visit have webcomics already, that shouldn't be too hard. I'll supply the topics, you supply the words. All the articles will relate to webcomics in one way or another. We're just trying to add as much material as possible for everyones viewing pleasure, so why not be a part of it? If interested, just email me at Uncaringmachine@aol.com and put "looking to write" as the subject. I'll give you a topic and plenty of time to write it, then put it on the site with your name and a link to YOUR site.

Writing articles for the site will be fun and rewarding in it's own right. Sorry I can't pay, but hey, if the we get popular enough over time, who knows? Also, maybe at the end of the year we'll do a "1st Annual Article of the Year" award with a prize or something. So, if you want to write, email away!!

Today I started a local ad campaign for the site by making these two advertisement flyers and sticking them up around town. I know, the pictures don't really scream "webcomics!". Well, I wanted to try different types of ads. Some will be crazy cartoon stuff, some will be just the name of the site, and some will be artsy band flyer kinda stuff, like you see here. I'm just glad my girlfriend let me use that pic of her! Lemme know what you think!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Yeah, I've broken down and added a donate button through PayPal. Why, you ask? I don't have any hosting fees or anything. Well, because if I'm going to be doing a contest every month with prizes, it's going to cost money. I know, you didn't ASK me to have contests. Well, they sure are fun though aren't they? I already have some prizes for the second contest being held next month, and with the cost of printing tshirts and buying prizes, I sure could use some help. A dollar, fifty cent, heck, a quarter would help. I want the very best coolest prizes to be won, but even a guy as rich as myself(rrrright)needs help every now and then. I appreciate anything you guys and girls can do to make the contests better and better. Thank you all!

Just to let everyone know, Jacks Reviews is undergoing a name change to Webcomic Asylum, but the url will also be changing to webcomicasylum.blogspot.com as well. So, on Monday, Sept. 24th, remember to bookmark the new url and tell all your friends too!Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, Cuendolin of Flying High and Low tells us that Keenzombies,a collected effort from different webcomic artists telling a tale of different characters from their respective properties trapped in a zombified world, is supposed to start at the 1st of October. It's organized by VinnieD of Antibunny.

Godai informs us that the very first Polish webcomic collective is about to publish second isue of their comic magazine during the International Comic Festival in Lodz, Poland, on 5th October. Cool huh? Webcomics are worldwide!

Dutch of School Spirit has a 500th strip set for November 11th. Impressive!

Guardsman of Hegemonia has his very first attempt at an animated comic up for viewing. It's very rough, but it's hey, give em a break, it's his first one!

Keep the news coming people. Email me at uncaringmachine@aol.com with the info! Remember, these are your comics and this is your site!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I get the feeling that Kathy Peterson is really into politics. Kidnapped By Gnomes, updated Mondays and Thursdays, tells the ongoing tale of two gnomes named Ed and Wilson and their everyday struggles with tv gods, vacuum cleaners, and the American health care system. With topics like that, how can it not be good?

When it comes to the art, KBG (really close to KGB. Coincidence? Hmm...) has cute character designs and a nice simple flat coloring job, but not much in the way of backgrounds or anything else. Once and a while they wear a hat or lab coat, or even a sundress in one strip, but I get the feeling that maybe Kathy has a hard time with drawing things other than her main characters? I would really like to see more variety in the settings and art style, because a comic should be visually appealing just like it should be well written.

Speaking of the writing, it was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand you have the more whimsical outings, such as the vacuum chase strip, or the static electricity one. She writes quite a few funny easygoing comics. But then you have the political opinion strips. Those to me are an acquired taste, and dare I say it, come across pretty heavy handed. I'm not sure how many people would be willing to read through the archive when there is so much talk of liberals and conservatives and big words aplenty. Don't get me wrong, I vote in the Presidential elections and have my opinions, but I don't find politics particularly entertaining. I'm just looking to relax and read a good webcomic that takes me away from reality for a few minutes. Again, some will get it, and some won't. I truly think that if Kathy focused more on the lighter side of her humor the strips would excel. She's a good writer with a lot to say, I'm just not sure if a comic about Gnomes is the place to say it. Maybe another webcomic solely about the inadequacies of our faulty government?

Kidnapped By Gnomes graces us with cute characters and some witty barbs that give us some insight into Kathy Peterson's views on corporations, big government, your President(I didn't vote for him!) and the like, but I wish she would tone down the preachy dialog a bit and just have fun with it. If you want a little more meat out of your webcomics, then give it a read through. If you're looking for something a little more lighthearted and an easier read, you might want to look elsewhere. But hey, what do I know, this really could be the way all Gnomes are!

I've already received a few entries into the logo contest, and I've got to say, there is quite a lot of talent out there in the webcomics world. Keep em coming and remember, Oct. 12th is only a few weeks away!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Boxcar Astronaut, created by Marc Lapierre and Jeff Carter, follows the backyard adventures of two kids named Devin and Ben, a dog named Diogee, and a real Robot named simply Robot. Updates come every Sunday.

The art in Boxcar is excellent. Super sharp and not a line is out of place. I can truly say this is some of the best cartoon style art I've seen in a webcomic, with distinctive characters and a fluid style that could easily be translated to animation. I would love to see what Marc could do with something other than a backyard setting. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing an occasional color comic. It just screams "color"! Not to say that it isn't fine in black and white though, because it would fit perfectly in the funny papers.

The writing wasn't great at first but after the first six or seven Jeff fell into a groove and the situations got increasingly better. I really liked the "sudoku Diogee" strip. There is a nice mix of humor that reminded me of, and I'll bet they've heard this before, Calvin and Hobbes, but not to a copycat degree. It has a style all it's own and I applaud it.

This was a short review because the comic is still in it's infancy. I can see collected volumes of Boxcar Astronaut in the future, tshirts, lunchboxes.....okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but you get the idea. Really good comic with very few negatives. Launch on over to Boxcar Astronaut and have a robotic good time!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know something has changed in the logo contest, and I'm sorry about it, and please don't hate me. Okay, got that outta the way. Now, the change being.....I want to change the name of the site. Yep, I know, what???? Well, I kinda don't want my name in the name of the site anymore, because as it gets bigger it just seems that much more corny to me. SO, with that in mind, I've decided upon Webcomic Asylum. If there is already a site out there with that name, someone please let me know. And if you think that's not such a good name, let me know that too. So, as of right now that's the name I'm going with and I'm really sorry if it screws up anyones logo they are making or already made. Just to make things better, I've decided to add one more thing to the winner. A PERMANENT banner at the bottom of the page for the winners webcomic. Isn't that cool? Okay, thanks for being patient with me and keep working and reading!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

I just discovered a site where you can possibly get tons of hits on your webcomic sites, if you have them that is. It's called StumbleUpon, click and check it out. It's really easy to install and start using right away. Basically, you "like" a site by clicking the "I like it!" button, and then the more sites you like the more hits you will get in turn. I'm not making any sense? Well, click it for yourself! It's a totally free way to get more people to go to your site. What do you have to lose except for a few minutes in front of the tube watching Alf reruns? Go! Now! And be sure to like this site! Grrr!

Friday, September 14, 2007

Roommates in college. One a goth. One, a videogame playing geekwad. Sometimes a girl thrown in for good measure. Sarcasm abounds, along with witty movie and game references. Ever heard of that combo before? Yeah, me too. Me a hundred. In fact, and I'm sorry to say, my very own comic has all of this(of course, it's HILARIOUS) and more! What I'm trying to get at is lack of originality is almost expected in webcomics these days, so finding something that doesn't involve those trappings, and many more, is like discovering that your mattress is filled with gold coins. Where am I going with this? Read on!

There's a Civilization on my Fork(a little wordy, ain't it?) starts off right away with a title that can be viewed as either wacky and original, hence making you curious enough to try it out, or the complete opposite. The complete opposite as in sounding like some existential mindf*#$!! which you might just pass up for fear of melting your brain. I chose the former months before being asked for a review and gave it a go. Anyway, Jason Torchia graces us with a pretty unique idea. A kid finds a moldy fork under his bed, then suddenly is shrunk down to the size of George Bush's brain by the teeny tiny occupants of said moldy eating utensil to become their new leader and king. Wuzzat now? Yeah, tell me about it. That's where the title of the comic comes into play. Zany adventures await out young hero trapped in Cutleria, just trying to find a way home. Fork updates are a bit erratic, but lately have been on Fridays.

You might be asking yourself, "self, with a premise like that, IS it a mindf$!!? with crazy off the wall art that you can't follow? Do I need to pop some pills to wrap my head around it?" Well, tell yourself that pills aren't needed. The art is pretty standard. Clean, ever so slight anime polish that's totally helped by the addition of color in the later updates is the style here. The only negative I can see is that the characters sometimes seemed wooden and not very fluid in motion, but that can be fixed with practice.

There aren't any sarcastic goths or videogame nerds to speak of(although the insane king plays them) so that's good. Of course, it starts out with an original idea and quickly becomes good guys versus bad. They are different in the fact that they all look alike other than a black armband worn by the bad dudes, and that both sides have a complete idiot for a leader, so it doesn't completely go down the road always travelled. One last thing. I don't understand why Ian just jumps into helping rescue a Cutlerian when he has no idea what's going on and just wants to get home. It didn't make any sense to me, but that's the beauty of comics, just jump right into the action! When all is said and done, it's go good and bad points, but I think the bad isn't enough to ruin your experience. TACF uses originality mixed with a little familiarity to produce a decent story. Based on uniqueness and good art, here we have an above average comic. Take a chance and dive under the bed and have a moldy good time!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Well, I think it's about time we involved the readers in what goes on around here, so we're holding a contest! This isn't just any little contest though. It will forever affect the site, hopefully in a positiveway. What's this contest about, you say? Okay, here are the details.Just two days ago I made a new logo for the site. I think it's okay,but sort of bland and boring. I'm not good with Photoshop and all that high tech stuff. I want an exciting and funny logo that stands out andmakes the site look professional. That's where you guys come in.

To put it simply, I want you, the readers, to create a brand spankingnew logo! It can be any style, any theme, with just a catch or two. One, You must incorporate a chimp. That simple. One chimp, two chimps, three, four, however many you want, doing whatever you want, somewhere in the logo design. It also has to be 638px(width)by 237px(height),in jpeg format. You can have a chimp at a desk, chimps at a computer, heck, chimps doing Pilates, I don't care as long as it's original. And two, the name of the site is changing to "Webcomic Asylum". Like it? I hope so. Jacks Reviews is just getting tired, so it's time to upgrade. So make the logo with the new name. Easy enough?

Now, to what you are all probably wondering, "what will I win if selected?" Great question! First, if you have the winning design, and your webcomic hasn't been reviewed yet, I will review it right away and leave it up for 1 week before doing another review. If your comic has already been reviewed, then just disregard that. Second, you get 1 MONTH of free publicity! You see that picture of ole Johnny Chins to the right of the site? That's where a picture of your comic will be along with a little writeup and link to it. That's 1 WHOLE MONTH of it being right where everyone who comes to the site will see and hopefully check it out. Third, the winning design will become the official tshirt design for the site which I will have up for sale, and you will receive a free one in your respective size. How cool is that?

The contest will run from today, Sept. 12th until Oct. 12th. That's an entire month to make one measly logo! Entries should be emailed to uncaringmachine@aol.com and under subject just put something like "logo entry" or "logo design". When the winner is announced we'll also be putting up all entries for everyone's enjoyment. Any questions, just leave a comment or email. Now get to work people!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

1. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. First off, what's the comic about andwhy?Life of the Kalahari is about the Blacktails, a messed up meerkat group in a odd world where anything can be, and anything being the impossible, and bizarre. The reason it is like this is because I started my comic for my own amusement, not always for the pleasure of others. I think it's a nice break from reality, to go into the depths of my mind of put my weirdest thoughts onto to these odd animals.

2. About how much time and effort do you put into the comic?On average, one hour. It takes longer to write then to draw the strip.

3. Have you ever considered printing your comic into a book?Occasionally, but I don't think I ever will. The internet, for now, is a lot easier and more flexable for working on.

4. Do you see yourself doing LOTK for the foreseeable future, and do you have any other projects in the works?I'm not quite sure what you mean there, but if it means doing my strip long into the future, probably yes. I love writing comics, and with a heck of a lot of time to waste it could go on, at the least three more years. In other projects, on and off I've been considering to do a strip (this one will be hand-drawn) about an only child named Millie, and her cat, Chester. Not sure about that, though.

5. If you could do a crossover with any other webcomic, which would it be and why?Hmm.....I don't know many webcomics, but it'd be Ozy and Millie. It's a great, very funny strip, and boy, does it get a lot of hits.

6. Who are your influences, comic or otherwise?Newspaper comic influences would be Pearls Before Swine, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes. They're some hilairous and daring comics. I also like Foxtrot, but I only started reading that after creating Life of the Kalahari and I'm not sure it had influenced me that much.

7. Do you have any other hobbies?Writing, outside of Life of the Kalahari.

8. Please tell the readers why they should check out your comic.Oh boy! Advertising! You should read Life of the Kalahari not for the art or for something created by a professinol, but instead it shows what bit about I think(Egad! Political Refrences!) and that comics don't always have to be about reality.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Left Handed Toons is a collection of comics done by two right handed dudes named Justin and Drew(Last names. Who needs em?) Think little oddball musings on daily life, gone horribly wrong. The site updates regularly, no set days I suppose.

I have to say that I really enjoyed HALF of the art in this comic. That is to say half of the comics are done by Justin, and half are done by Drew. The Drew comics are drawn much much better than the others, and if he really is a right handed artist, I would love to see what he can do with his dominate drawing hand. I love the quirky style he has. Justin, on the other hand, draws stick figures. Yep. But, as plain and boring as that sounds, the coupling of the stick figures with the right joke works perfectly in some instances, so it kinda evens out in the end. Anyway, hit and miss with the art.

The writing was, again, hit or miss. Some I found funny and pretty clever, like "Nothing More" and "Stabby Stab", but then others, such as "Exercise" and "Not Good Enough" seemed like extreme filler. A lot of them are of the Seinfeld variety. You know, the "why is Ovaltine called Oval when it's round?" Type of comedy. Not really funny, but "hmph" inducing. But then a few of them had me wanting to show them to my friends, which is why the "imbed this cartoon" feature is an added plus. Good and bad but more good then bad. Ahem. Yeah.

In the end I would have to say that I liked this comic, I just wished there was less filler. Solid jokes and good art(maybe Drew could handle all art duties and Justin could write?)throughout would propel this to the top of the webcomic heap in time. Check out Left Handed Toons if you want a unique experiment in webcomics.

Sidekicks, who needs em?

Welcome to The Webcomic Asylum!

Hello, Jack here. I just wanted to welcome all readers to my little review site. Here you'll find my opinions on webcomics, big and small. I'm no professional by any means, just a small time reader and fellow comic enthusiast. I hope you enjoy the reviews, interviews, and news I offer here at my humble little corner of the webcomic universe. Take care, and feel free to check back often. Also, don't hesitate to email me with any requests, critiques, or friendly chatter that you may have. Later!-Jack

Want your comic reviewed?

Send requests, thoughts on the site, or showers of affection to uncaringmachine@aol.com!

Other webcomic related sites of interest...

Ranking System!

The Old ranking system, which I called the Chimp System, went as follows:

It was based on 12 Chimps. The more Chimps you got, obviously the better I liked your comic! Get it? Okay. So,you got That means your comic is average, in my opinion. 12 Chimps means it's perfect, 7 above average and so on.....

So, I hope you enjoyed the amusing old ratings system.

Now, the NEW ratings system is on a TEN chimp scale, which makes much more sense if you think about it. Five is average, ten is perfect, and you know the rest. I'm not going to go back and rerate all 50 of the past reviews, so for the older reviews just use the old ratings system up top, and for the new reviews starting from Calamities of Nature, just use the new ratings system. That is all.